38 school girls test Covid positive in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Mar, 2023 10:44 AM
Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh), March 27 (IANS) Thirty-eight girl students of the Kasturba residential school in Mitauli block of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district have tested positive for Covid-19 infection, a district health official said.
Lakhimpur Kheri Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Santosh Gupta, said that one staff member was also found Covid-positive during a contact tracing exercise on Sunday after which the entire campus has been turned into a quarantine centre by the Health department.
This is the highest number of new Covid cases reported in a district in a day this year.
Gupta, who rushed a medical team to the Kasturba school, said samples of all 92 contact cases of the school had been sent for testing. The report of 38 among them was positive. Most of those tested positive were asymptomatic, he added.
"All students and staff had been advised seven-day quarantine on campus and provided medicine kits. Condition of all students, barring two who have cold, is fine," the CMO said.
Those found Covid-positive had been kept in a separate wing in the school campus, he added.
A mother and child wing in Motipur has been asked to keep 20 beds ready for any medical need among the students and staff in the campus.
"I personally spoke to students and assures them of all help. We are keeping watch on the health condition," said Gupta. An ambulance had also been stationed at the Kasturba school in case of any emergency, he added.
With this, the number of active Covid cases had risen to 41 since March 23, he said.
On March 23, a girl student of Kasturba residential school in Mitauli block had tested positive for Covid-19. Then, an elderly person of Behjam block and another person of Mitauli block also tested positive in the last couple of days.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mahendra Bahadur Singh, said all precautionary measures, including providing medical kit, sanitisation etc, had been ensured. He said there was no need to panic and urged people to strictly observe Covid-19 protocol.
The officials said that some dreaded criminals were lodged in the same ward, adding that Sisodia has not raised any complaint in food or other things so far. Sisodia, who was arrested on February 26 in the Delhi excise policy case, was lodged in the cell on Monday after due formalities which included some medical tests.
Special public prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad argued the charges against Poonawala. It was submitted that the accused is a trained chef from Taj Hotel and is aware of preserving the flesh. Poonawala had also ordered dry ice, agarbatti etc. after killing Shraddha Walker, the police said.
Carrying placards, father Balkaur Singh and mother Charan Kaur told the media it has been almost a year of the crime occurrence and the main culprits have not been arrested.They demanded that the case should be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as crucial witnesses "are being eliminated and nothing is going in their favour."
The accused were identified as Mohd. Danish (33) and Danish alias Raja (30), both residents of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. Police have also recovered five high end luxury cars and SUVs from the possession of the accused.
The cause of the provocation is yet to be ascertained, an official told IANS, adding the situation is under control. Videos of the ruckus were viral on the social media. Many parked vehicles and a nearby police station was pelted on with stones.
The court had, on March 4, extended Sisodia's CBI custody for two days and listed his bail plea for March 10 and in the last two days, the CBI questioned him with key witnesses -- former excise commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna and former excise department secretary C. Arvind -- in this case, who recorded their statements in front of a magistrate.
